


chthonia (of the earth)

by BlackBat09



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Datekou Week 2021, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 13:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30055875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBat09/pseuds/BlackBat09
Summary: neither the cold nor the light reach the gym, not really: within is just the team, practice, dedication - the wall. the change of seasons hardly touches them there, governed by their own timetable, when training camps and tournaments approach, time kept by the pound of their feet, the smack of their palms, the count before a block.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6
Collections: Datekou Week 2021





	chthonia (of the earth)

**Author's Note:**

> datekou week said "underworld" and my brain said "the loosest persephone metaphor in existence" and here i am
> 
> big big big shoutout to [Tree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdTree/) for beta reading, i can't thank you enough for the help!!!

“So - that’s my pitch, I suppose. If you’d like to come join us, we’d be thrilled to have you - no strings, no commitments, just… checking it out.”

Koganegawa tilts his head a little as he looks up at the third year standing in front of his desk - Moniwa, he said his name was - half-eaten lunch forgotten in favor of listening to the volleyball captain try to draw him in. He’s already said no to the basketball club, eager to try and snap him up before this very offer came to him, to join the volleyball team, to stand with the Iron Wall of Date. They’d been nice, and all, Kogane just… doesn’t know if he wants that. Doesn’t know if he wants to join a sports club at all - there are other things he could do, and his studies to focus on - but Moniwa-san seems earnest, genuine, so much less severe than the blonde standing and waiting for him in the door to Kogane’s classroom, watching them intently as Koganegawa purses his lips and mulls over his answer.

“I mean…” He fiddles with his chopsticks, digging a nail into the grain of the wood for a moment. “I could, I guess. Come take a look.”

Moniwa’s eyes light up, his previously awkward smile spreading across his face broad and genuine, and Koganegawa can’t help but smile back at him, his joy infectious. “Man - thank you so much, Koganegawa-kun! I really hope you’ll like it,” he gushes, and Kogane blinks a little - the basketball club hadn’t seemed concerned with whether he would enjoy their sport, mostly just talking about what an asset he could be to them, and to the volleyball boys, too, but Moniwa - “If you don’t have anything to do after school, one of the team can bring you to practice - or I can, if you’d rather.”

He glances at his friend standing at the door and back at Kogane with a conspiratory little grin, “Last thing I need is Kamasaki scaring you off us entirely.”

“Is - is he usually scary?” Koganegawa asks, like the other player hasn’t been intimidating him from the door since he showed up, like he’s totally fine, and Moniwa laughs.

“On the court? Sure. Most of the time he’s just loud and obnoxious, though.” He looks to the door again and Kamasaki-san arches a brow at him, grinning when Moniwa gives him an excited thumbs-up. “Still, I’ll come fetch you over - if you have the time, that is.”

“Ah - yeah. I can do that - and I’d appreciate it. I mean, if it’s not - too out of your way,” Kogane tries to stress, but the older boy shakes his head, putting his hands up to placate him.

“I’m the captain - the team is my responsibility, including prospective members. I’d be happy to.”

“Okay,” he agrees softly, shoulders hunching as he smiles up at Moniwa-san and gets that bright smile in return.

“Cool. I’ll see you later, Koganegawa-kun!” There’s a bounce in his step as he leaves the classroom, slapping his partner in the door high-five before they both take their leave of the first-year hall. The discussion leaves Kogane poking at what’s left of his lunch, stomach fluttering too excitedly for him to get down more than a few bites.

The breeze through the classroom window is damp and earthy from spring rain, and Koganegawa taps his chopsticks against his lunchbox, deep in thought.

* * *

Like Kamasaki-san, Kogane thinks some of the Iron Wall can’t help but be intimidating - the vice captain is strict and intense in ways Koganegawa didn’t think someone could get about club sports, but he’s not even the worst off. Sasaya-san seems nice enough when he talks to his juniors, more encouraging and friendly, like Moniwa, but the severe set of his face leaves him with a semi-permanent scowl, so much so that it surprises Kogane to see him smile; and Aone-san, tall, broad, silent, probably startles him the most - he’s the only member of the team taller than Koganegawa himself, serious gaze never seeming to falter, and his speed and jumps are astounding for someone so big.

Kogane thinks he’d trip over himself if he tried to be like Aone-san, but Moniwa assures him he doesn’t have to be the next Aone, if he chooses to join them, and that makes it a little better.

He warms to Aone-san a bit more when the older boy flushes at Koganegawa’s compliments and observations, rubbing the back of his neck before bowing slightly and fleeing the gym.

“You flustered him,” Moniwa laughs, a little incredulous. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him go so pink.”

“I didn’t mean it!” he stresses, but the captain just claps him on the back a few times, assures him that Aone-san will be fine.

“You’ve really been paying attention, though - I heard you complimenting him. You don’t exactly know what we’re doing out here, but it sounds like you’re eager to learn, just from that,” he points out, and Koganegawa fidgets before allowing himself to nod, sheepishly grinning at Moniwa-san who responds in kind, bright and delighted. “I’m glad to hear it, Koganegawa-kun. We’d be happy to have you.”

Futakuchi-san scoffs from where he’s taking down the net, muttering something under his breath, and Kamasaki-san pitches a volleyball at him before starting to storm across the court, snapping at him about being more respectful to their captain and more encouraging about new players, that he remembers when Futakuchi couldn’t block to save his life and that he still hardly can -

Kamasaki’s hand on his head forces Futakuchi to bow as he apologizes, and Kogane just waves his hands, flustered by the display.

“It’s okay! Really, Kamasaki-san. I know I don’t know anything about volleyball, but - Moniwa-san is right. I wanna try. And I might get in the way a little bit at first, and Futakuchi-san might be right to be frustrated, but I hope I can make you guys proud to call me a teammate.” They all blink at him in silence for a moment, before Moniwa laughs and Kamasaki musses Futakuchi’s hair, the second-year squirming out of the vice captain’s grip with a loud complaint.

“How come you’re such a little shit when a first year knows how to be this polite, huh? You forget your manners somewhere? Get ‘em knocked out of you?”

“Yeah, well, maybe if you stopped throwing balls at me - !”

The taste of laughter is heady and sweet on his tongue, bursting off his lips, and Kogane hopes to share it again with his new team.

* * *

They play hard together. They grow, as a team. The third years step down after their loss to Karasuno, even if Moniwa-senpai still comes around to help Kogane work on his setting, and as summer turns to autumn turns to winter, Koganegawa finds himself in the gym more than ever, dedicated to getting better, just like he promised his teammates he would. Morning practices have them arriving in the cold and the dark, and the sunlight that pierces his eyes when they leave makes him blink and squint, every day like emerging anew, as something different than he was the day before. Something better suited to the gym, to the game, to his place beside his team.

Neither the cold nor the light reach the gym, not really: within is just the team, practice, dedication - the Wall. The change of seasons hardly touches them there, governed by their own timetable, when training camps and tournaments approach, time kept by the pound of their feet, the smack of their palms, the count before a block. Spring Nationals come and go, Dateko watching from behind a screen as their rivals fight past some of the toughest teams in Japan, their resolve strengthened by Karasuno’s successes, and it spurs Kogane to practice more - with Moniwa-san, before he graduates, and with his friends from the first-year training camp, flurries of emails setting up meetings that have him away from home far more often than he’s ever been for any club or activity in middle school.

His mother remarks that she misses him, sometimes, and he apologizes, promising to make more time for her soon, but his thoughts are on the arc of his sets, the form of his receives, the growing strength of the Iron Wall.

* * *

They beat Karasuno at the Interhigh Preliminaries in his second year, and, while it doesn’t mean they can stop - they still have a ways to go if they want to see Nationals - summer comes, and, with it, a break.

Like he promised, Koganegawa spends time at home: he helps his mother clean out the house, the doors open to let the warm breeze clear away the stale air and dust, linens washed and rugs shaken out and everything hung on lines in the backyard, fluttering like banners in his periphery as he helps tend the back garden, pruning and weeding until he’s up to his elbows in warm, soft dirt. He plays with his sister, finds himself startled sometimes by how much she’s changed in the past year - his father jokes that he’d have known if he were home more, but also acknowledges that Hatsu is growing up quickly, as children do when they’re small.

“She’s not the only one who’s changed,” his mother murmurs, smoothing a hand over Kogane’s hair, and he blinks at her, a little surprised at the wistful tone of her words. He isn’t sure, from the way she looks at him, the slightly sad curve of her smile, if he should apologize.

The summer break is only a month - four short weeks, a blink of the eye in the grand scheme of things - but days where he can track the sun through the sky on its steady path feel stretched out and slow, dragging along through the listless hours spent doing nothing at all. Even with chores and errands and Hatsu to entertain, he’s restless, aimless, and his parents’ eyes say they know exactly why, as he finishes his summer homework and goes to lay out in the yard, their futons casting swaying shadows across him as they air out in the warm sun.

Koganegawa knows he should be grateful for the rest - he knows that the fall will be busy, with Interhigh playoffs, more intense drills, his new juniors to help train - but as he lays in the grass, tossing his ball high in the air, letting it fall again before setting it once more to no one, he finds he only misses his friends more, his team, the steady scenery of the gym and the potent taste of laughter, of joy, of triumph.

It’s a relief, he finds, when break draws to a close, packing his gym bag alongside his regular backpack, setting his alarm for morning practice and moving with a spring in his step that the summer heat seemed to have sapped from him. His mother’s smile is bittersweet, kissing his cheek before bed, murmuring that his lunch is in the fridge for him to grab in the morning, and he thanks her, his returning grin so big it makes his cheeks hurt, before he turns in for the night.

Part of him wonders about that bittersweet smile, but it’s gone by morning, whisked away by sleep, forgotten on his walk to school - he has more important things to focus on.

The fall is here, and, as Koganegawa steps into the gym, he doesn’t look back.

**Author's Note:**

> comments & kudos are love! you can find me [@BlackBat09](https://twitter.com/BlackBat09) on twitter (NSFW)


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